Young people drawn to farming by income, job opportunities

He’ll finish high school, head off for a few years — ideally to study “something to do with agriculture” at the University of Guelph — come home and eventually take over the family farm on the outskirts of the Holland Marsh, a lush agricultural area north of Toronto.

At 15, an age when many might not be so sure what they want to do with their lives, Christopher has no doubts.

“I grew up in it. I like doing it,” he says, offering a simple assessment of his dream to lead the fourth-generation agricultural operation his father John has transformed into a multimillion-dollar enterprise that grows, packs and ships onions, potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beets across Canada and the United States.

Christopher, who spends every minute he can before school and after working around Gwillimdale Farms Ltd., has no hesitation about going into an industry that is proving attractive — and in recent years more lucrative — for young Canadians.